When I received an email from my friend Michelle Stewart on February 9th, 2011, it included some gruesome looking pics of a cat that was in dire need of my help. Someone rescued him for the SE side of town and evidently posted his dilemma on Craig's List, which got the ball rolling. When Michelle met the cat and discovered he had been taken to a vet and tested positive for FIV, she knew she had to get me involved:)

I don't have the initial pics to post of how he looked when he was first scooped up off the streets, but let me tell you, he was an emaciated, wounded, infected walking wreck who wanted nothing more than to eat and fill up his empty tummy. By the time I got him, his left eye (which had been glued shut by pus and other debris) had been tended to so he could fully see the food bowl he was happily diving head first into! He was filthy, with a bite wound on his right cheek and a raging upper respiratory infection. By the time all was said and done by me at the clinic, Stewart (born in early 2007 I would estimate), was squeaky clean, was infection free and had put on two pounds in two days ~ utterly amazing!

The next step was bringing our FIV guy down to Sids; since he was housed at the clinic for about a week prior to his arrival, he had made some friends with the other newbies entering the program and boy did he talk all about it! I swear he was carrying on a conversation with the others - it was comical! Once he got settled in at Sids he didn't chatter quite as much; I think he just had to tell his story to someone and then be done with it:) He eats like a champ and gets along well with the others. He marvels in the fact that we feed soupy canned food on pizza pans TWICE daily; he cannot get enough of that I tell ya!

Stewart's story is definitely a feel-good one, as SO many people I don't even know were involved in getting him to us. And for that, my heartfelt thanks goes out to all!

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